Beer

We should not finish this Vegas entry without a discussion on beer. The old town, near Fremont Street is the home to Main Street Casino and the Triple 7 Restaurant and Brewery, excellent hoppy Pale Ale, smooth pilsner.  Another micro-brewery worthy of note is the Chicago Brewing Company on Fort Apache, again great Pale Ales, some seasonal triples (strong, strong beer) and a good lager. The third, and best brew pub was Big Dog's up on Rancho drive, excellent beers and a large selection. All micro-breweries here give free tasting samples so you're not landed with something overpowering, hoppy or with too much banana flavor.

Lake Las Vegas Fish

The lake contains numerous fish (for catch and release only) including large-mouth bass, great basin bonefish (carp), bluegill, trout and others. The walk around the marina showed hundreds of the carp, all who seemed interested in two touring Canadians.

Lake Las Vegas

It was 108 degrees Fahrenheit the day we visited Lake Las Vegas, we spent a lot of time dodging in and out of the shade. What do they say about mad dogs and Englishmen?

As you can see, it was worth the trip though.

Roadrunner Not

These cheeky guys were everywhere, but not a coyote in sight. We thought at first that they were Roadrunners, however, it turns out that they are great-tailed grackles. This one was taken in the fantastic area that has sprung up from the desert around Lake Las Vegas.

Morning in Monte Carlo

Ok, not the Monte Carlo, but our hotel room, on the thirty-first floor (they only have thirty-two) and a mountain view (which of course, almost every high room in Vegas has). Great room, tall ceilings, two big beds and a plasma TV, standard fare nowadays. No coffee maker though, so we had to rough it by going to the most excellent of all bagel shops, Einstein Bros.

Vegas baby....!!

After a month of planning, we start our descent into McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Let the festivities begin!

Winglet

The eight foot tall winglet on our Boeing 737-800 from my vantage point. I think this is the first time we have been on an aircraft with a winglet, these things reduce lift induced drag and provide some extra lift and therefore increase efficiency and save fuel. As airfares continue to increase I don't know if any of those savings are passed on to passengers, ah well, flights were good prices anyway.

Sunday in the BIG Canoe

We were invited to paddle on Sechelt Inlet, Porpoise Bay, on Sunday. About a nine kilometer paddle in a canoe that seats twelve. It was a difficult paddle because you don't change sides. So, we both suffered, plus, the seats were hard (and everyone else had cushions) but, a great experience, we stopped at Piper Point for snacks and stories, enjoyed native songs on the way back and of course, coffee and raspberry strudles at the daily roast.

No place like Gnome

I have been trying to install one of these in the garden for quite some time but Karen has been resisting, looks like the first (of many) gnomes has arrived.

Mad dogs and Englishpersons

Sunday was a good hot day, so we thought there would be nothing better than moving more gravel and sorting out the "side bit" that had become quite overgrown. After an hour or so of this we were forced to go off to the pub.